Is There A Statute Of Limitations On Crimes In Canada?
Is There A Statute Of Limitations On Crimes In Canada? This blog is brought to you courtesy of LawyerSelect.ca - Toronto's Premier Lawyer Referral Service You may have recently read in the newspaper of a man by the name of Ronald Stan who, back in the mid-1970s, burned down a farmer’s barn in the Ontario county of Middlesex. After committing the crime, he travelled south to a small town in Oklahoma, where he resided for the next 37 years under an assumed identity. Despite being presumed dead by Canadian law enforcement, he was apprehended back where the crime was committed, 37 years later, in Middlesex County. His arrest raised an interesting question: had the limitation period for charging him with arson lapsed? Before we answer that, it’s helpful to first understand what a limitation period is. Put simply, a limitation period is a law that defines a specific window of time during which a person who’s committed a criminal offence in Canada can be charged with tha